A three-part study compared similarity-based learning (in which concepts are formed based on similarity among multiple examples) and explanation-based learning (in which general schema are acquired from a single example) in schema acquisition. Subjects, 16 undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology courses at the University of Illinois and…

Advanced knowledge acquisition in a subject area is different in many important ways from introductory learning (and from expertise). In this paper some of the special characteristics of advanced learning of complex conceptual material are discussed. The paper notes that these characteristics are often at odds with the goals and tactics of…

The purpose of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Learning Style Profile is to provide educators with a well-validated and easy-to-use instrument for diagnosing the cognitive styles, perceptual response tendencies, and study/instructional preferences of middle level and senior high school students. The Learning Style…

The present study was an attempt to investigate the effects of two factors - number of defining attributes and the degree to which a student has learned those attributes (level of conceptualization) - on the difficulty of a concept. (Author)

This exploratory piece suggests different ways to look at the process of career development and implies directions for investigators interested in shaping a "theory of practice" for teachers. (Author)

Forty-eight kindergarten children were divided into four groups on the basis of their status (preoperational vs. transitional) and whether or not they received inversion-negation training. Results indicated no differences due to status, but differences due to training. Results do not confirm the contention that acceleration can only occur during…

THE "CASE" PROGRAM WAS DEVELOPED TO PROVIDE A VEHICLE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES INVOLVED IN CONCEPT LEARNING BY MEANS OF COMPUTER SIMULATION TECHNIQUES. BECAUSE THE MAJORITY OF PUBLISHED "SIMULATION OF CONCEPT LEARNING" PROGRAMS PROVIDED FEW INSIGHTS INTO THE LEARNING PROCESS, THE "CASE" PROGRAM…

THE DESIGN OF THIS STUDY WAS TO (1) DESCRIBE A WAY OF ANALYZING GRAPHIC OR PICTORIAL MATERIALS, (2) DESIGN SOME STIMULUS MATERIALS WITH THIS METHOD OF ANALYSIS IN MIND, AND (3) TEST SOME PREDICTIONS BASED ON IMPLICATIONS RELATED TO THE ANALYTICAL METHOD IN AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY. A SET OF GRAPHIC MATERIALS WAS ANALYZED AND DESCRIBED WITHIN A…

The objectives of this study were to determine: (1) the variables that influence the learning of verbal material received by subjects via the aural modality, (2) how learning under conditions of aural reception compare with learning of the same materials under appropriately equivalent visual conditions, and (3) in what combinations learning is…

The purpose of the two experiments was to assess the effects of two levels of stimulus redundancy and three levels of irrelevant visual stimulation on performance in a successive discrimination task and a reproduction task. The results indicate that increases in redundancy facilitated performance in the reproduction task but had no appreciable…

When one learns complex material, the important thing appears to be the ability to understand the material. Once understanding occurs, learning and remembering follow automatically. The conventional psychological literature says little about the processes involved in the learning of complex material--material that takes weeks, months, and even…

A pilot study and two formal studies were conducted with educable mentally handicapped (EMR) children to develop materials and procedures suitable for studying schema learning in EMRs and to demonstrate schema learning in EMRs in the absence of external guidance. The pilot and formal study I were conducted to develop suitable populations of…

Using subjects classified on the basis of positive and less positive self-concepts, this study investigates the effects of instructions, a principle, and practice with four concept-attainment problems on the efficiency of the attainment of concepts among subjects. The findings indicate the subjects with more positive self-concepts attain abstract…

The author examines three teaching methodologies (repetitive, conceptual, and creative) and concludes that teaching should produce in students a balance of specific, convergent, and divergent thinking. If industrial arts educators limit teaching to known and accepted practices, programs and opportunities for young people are limited. (LH)